2019 Burlingham Undergraduate Student of Excellence Award
The recipient of the 2019 Burlingham Undergraduate Student of Excellence Award is Christopher Cousins, Fisheries and Wildlife.
Chris has done excellent research on environmental DNA in the labs of Dr. Tiffany Garcia and Dr. Taal Levi. He was awarded a 2018-19 Continuing Undergraduate Researchers Support Award and was invited to present his work at the 2019 Northwestern Vertebrate Biology Society annual meeting. Chris wrote and submitted an NSF proposal that proposed utilizing eDNA to measure species richness in headwater streams along a gradient of fire disturbance. This proposal has a strong chance of funding by NSF or a federal natural resource agency. He was the 2018 recipient of the Bonnie Hall Fisheries and Wildlife Diversity Scholarship and the 2017 recipient of the Shriver Thompson Scholarship.
…Chris will hopefully start a PhD program in Wildlife Science after he graduates this June. This is unique as it is rare that a student is accepted to the PhD program without a MS first.
…Chris is also an outstanding citizen of our College and University. He is president of the OSU Student Herpetological Club (and one of its founders) recently spearheading a collaboration between the Herp Club and the US Forest Service.
…Chris is able to reach people most of us cannot with his incredible patience, quiet demeanor, and rounded perspective. It is easy to see the grit and determination borne from lessons learned underneath Chris’s relaxed, unassuming exterior. He is focused, analytical, unafraid to speak up, but reserved in his opinions.
…Chris is the embodiment of what an Oregon State University student should be: resilient, brilliant, and generous.